Bastrop - Cedar Creek Edition | May 2024

Bastrop County prepares ahead of wildre season From the cover

Zooming in

Risk for homes The map shows the density of homes at risk for wildfires. High density

Two-minute impact

In 2011, Cox’s home was one of 1,673 destroyed, according to the TPWD. The fire’s path also included 96% of Bastrop State Park, per TPWD. Cox said she thinks emergency responders did the best they could notifying residents and combating the fire. “Mother Nature gave us perfect fire conditions with a long drought and extremely windy condi- tions,” Cox said. Despite her experience, Cox chose to rebuild in the neighborhood. Cox and her family planted new pine trees that are growing along with other vegetation.

Central Texas does not have a set wildre season, but historically Bastrop County has faced the most signicant res in January and February, and from August to October, said Wade Powell, wildland re management specialist for the Texas Parks & Wildlife Department. The region is likely to see a normal re season—meaning, there will be res—but it’s unlikely to be an extreme season, said Luke Kanclerz, Texas A&M Forest Service predictive service department head. The wildre risk increases in late summer as vegetation dries out and it becomes easier for res to start and spread, Kanclerz said. As of press time, Bastrop County is not in a drought, but Kanclerz expects to see vegetation start to dry out when Central Texas experiences extreme summer heat. “As conditions become warm and dry whatever [residents] can do to reduce accidental ignition, that’ll go a long way to protecting the citizens of Bastrop County,” Kanclerz said. Almost all wildres, 90%, are caused by humans, according to the TPWD. The Bastrop area has historically faced large and dicult-to-control res due to the dense pine, yaupon and juniper trees in the area, which act as fuel for res, Kanclerz said. While res are expected to burn in Bastrop County and throughout parts of Texas, local and state ocials are prioritizing public lands resilience and hardening homes against wildre risk. Many Bastrop residents are more aware of re danger and better prepared than in 2011,

Low density

ELGIN

BASTROP COUNTY

PAIGE

290

BASTROP

CEDAR CREEK

304

ROSANKY

SOURCE: CORELOGIC 2022 WILDFIRE RISK REPORT/ COMMUNITY IMPACT

MAP NOT TO SCALE N

Hundreds of homes and millions of dollars of property, including cars, were lost in the 2011 Bastrop Complex res.

said Sheila Lowe, executive director of the Bastrop County Long Term Recovery Team. The organization formed after the 2011 re, and aids low-income and uninsured or underinsured residents in recovering from long-term disasters. “Because of the destruction the re caused and the amount of time it took to recover, it stayed on everyone’s mind and in our faces,” Lowe said. “We never want to be those victims again.”

COURTESY BASTROP COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY MUSEUM

Damages caused by the 2011 fire

Days the fire burned

34,068

Acres burned

Fatalities

1,673

Homes destroyed

$325M

Property losses

SOURCE: TEXAS PARKS AND WILDLIFE DEPARTMENT/COMMUNITY IMPACT

COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM